


A Gift For Aaron - Robert and Aaron (10th July 2017) (canon compliant)

by BoleynC



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-30 14:52:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11465895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoleynC/pseuds/BoleynC
Summary: Robert goes to a department store to pick out a gift for Aaron.





	A Gift For Aaron - Robert and Aaron (10th July 2017) (canon compliant)

**Author's Note:**

> What I imagine happened between Robert finding out he had a load of cash and the chairs ending up at Mill.

He had seen Aaron looking wistfully at the black remote-operated recliner chairs in one of their leftover homeware magazines just the other week. Aaron had been shifting the extra magazines into a black sack (with a horribly exhausted look on his face) when he’d taken a break, slumped down on the sofa, and flicked through one. Robert had been putting the dishes away in the kitchen area, trying not to feel hurt by the silence between them (seeing as he’d brought it on himself), but he’d caught sight of the familiar page with a pang of sudden remembrance. Way back when they’d first bought Mill, Aaron had pointed out one of those tacky black chairs. Neither of them had taken the idea seriously, not with the prices of them and how they were trying to save a bit. Robert had joked that they were ugly, and Aaron had given him a push and made some remark about him being an interior design snob. Together they’d picked out the sofa and chairs they wanted and come to a pretty good compromise. They didn’t need anything flashy, according to Aaron, but Robert couldn’t help but feel Aaron was only saying that to save them money. 

But now, everything had changed. With money to burn, real, actually-accessible money from his investment, they could afford to splash the cash. This was the start of a new chapter for them, one where Aaron, who had grown up with just as little money as him, could feel secure. Money would never trouble them again. Aaron wouldn’t have to scrimp and save like the rest of the Dingles. He wouldn’t have to struggle to make ends meet. Both of them, Robert and Aaron, could live better, more financially stable lives than their parents ever had. 

Yes, things were difficult right now. But surely this was a sign? A sign that things were looking up. 

Of course the first thing he’d do with his money, no, _their_ money, because what was his was Aaron’s, was treat his husband. Anything to put a smile back on his face, to help him believe how loved he was, how sorry Robert was, to give him a surprise that would delight rather than upset him. 

And of course he wanted to go for the chair. Or chairs. He’d need to get one for Liv too, because that kid deserved a bit of luxury in her life after the time she’d had, and also because whatever Aaron had she wanted too. Liv was practically Aaron in miniature, stomping about in moods, wearing Aaron’s hoodies, telling people to ‘do one’. It was no surprise Robert had come to love that gobby kid really. Not with the weakness he had for grumpy tough-nuts with secret hearts of gold. 

Robert and Aaron had already discussed this issue at length, how they’d make Mill a proper home for Liv. Already Robert had sorted Liv out a desk up in her bedroom that she could use for homework and sketching. No more sitting hunched up in the back room of the Woolpack where the noise was constant. No more having Charity rest her drinks on Liv’s folders and getting coffee all over them. 

Perhaps he was compensating for the horrendous first night he and Aaron had shared in their new home, but he wanted Liv’s first memory of her new home to be perfect. It wouldn’t make up for anything, not by a long way, but it would give the house some much needed happiness at last. And anything that delighted Liv, delighted Aaron by extension, which was always a bonus. 

She would therefore be spoilt rotten too. As Robert’s family, no price would be too high. He wanted to give her the life he’d always secretly craved as a kid. And that was going to start with two of those chavvy reclining chairs Aaron had been drooling over. 

Chairs were domestic. They were the sort of thing you bought someone you were going to be with forever. They were steady, stable. You didn’t buy furniture for just anyone, after all. 

And so although he was supposed to be spending the morning catching up with Diane while Aaron was at the scrapyard, he made his excuses, got in the car, and drove into York. He may or may not have sung along to a couple of songs on the radio as he went. 

+++

Robert was fairly familiar with the homeware department of this particular store, having shopped there before when they first decided to buy Mill. Aaron had declared it a rip-off and turned his nose up at everything he saw in there, at least to start with. Even he’d eventually been won over after Robert had shown him the added perks that came with more high-end brands. 

Besides, as Robert had told him, it’s more cost effective to buy good quality furniture. After all, they were going to spend at least the next ten years with it. That had brought a reluctant beam to Aaron’s face, although it was more to do with the idea of he and Robert living at Mill ten years down the line than anything else. 

With the look of a man on a mission, Robert stepped determinedly into the store, giving his blazer pocket a subconscious pat right over the his chest where his wallet was hidden. Money and confidence went hand in hand to Robert Sugden, who had grown up with nothing and been pushed aside over and over again due to this fact, only to understand later in life that in order to be taken seriously, to be treated like you matter, you had to have a bit of cash to your name. 

He found the right part of the store easily enough. Level One, just as he remembered. Aaron had throughly enjoyed taking the piss out of the fancy lamps they were selling on that very same floor during their first trip there. As Robert passed them he couldn’t help but smirk. 

The chairs were set out stylishly, with plenty of room around each one to show them off. Robert passed the fancy bar stools and the squishy armchairs with added mod cons and went straight to the recliners.  

The one Aaron had liked in the catalogue was black with a flash of silver on each side. It had a built in phone charging socket and all, which Robert knew would be perfect for his husband, who could sit frowning at his phone for hours on end when he was in a mood.

To Robert’s disappointment, that particular model wasn’t in store, but there was a silver recliner which looked almost _exactly_ like the one Aaron had been staring so wistfully at. But it still wasn’t perfect.

If Aaron wanted black, Robert was going to get it for him. If that meant looking up stores in London then so be it. 

A shop assistant spotted Robert browsing and strolled cheerfully over, an approachable and clearly practiced smile on her face. 

“Can I help you, sir?” she asked politely. 

Robert barely acknowledged her winning expression. Instead he gestured at the silver chair looking thoughtful. 

“D’yer do these in black?” 

“Yes,” the young woman agreed helpfully. “In red and gold as well. The black comes with brown and silver details. And I think if we contact the company directly you can order more bespoke pieces in a wider range of colours.” 

“Black’s fine,” Robert answered, starting to grin with his triumph. Brown and silver details sounded perfect.

Sensing a sell was on the cards (and hoping for a bit of credit from management), the young woman gestured at her name badge. 

“I’m Sophie. Glad we were able to help you find what you’re looking for today. How many were you after?”

“Just the two,” Robert said, still distracted. “How do they work? Have they got remotes?” 

Sophie nodded and reached beneath the chair, pulling out a silver remote. With some customers she showed them how it worked, but she got the impression that this man would rather try it for himself, and so she handed it over. 

“Yes, and controls on the side,” she told him brightly as Robert began to command the chair, making it dip forward and back slowly. “And you’ll notice there’s a minimum amount of noise too.” 

Robert nodded his agreement and began to examine the chair more closely. He’d always liked his gadgets, and he knew Aaron would love this particular little bit of tech as well. He could almost _see_ Aaron curled up in one of them after a long day. He could _see_ Liv sitting cross-legged in her own as she scoffed crisps and watched appalling reality telly. They both needed a bit of comfort in their lives, in Robert’s opinion, and this was a start. 

“You won’t get better than these,” the young woman commented, perhaps a little defensively, as Robert crouched down to examine the chair. She could tell he was a man who was determined to get his money’s worth and wouldn’t hesitate to find fault. Most of the customers she assisted were the same way. Money made a person expect excellence, and she supposed that at the price they were selling these chairs at, it wasn’t exactly unreasonable. After all, you could buy more or less the same model in a non-designer brand for a quarter of the price, not that she’d ever told a customer that. 

“Not in Yorkshire, anyway,” Robert conceded, running a hand over one of the arm rests to check the leather was suitably smooth. It was.

Sophie watched as the man stood up again, apparently satisfied having given the chair the once over.

“They’re great because they suit all heights,” the young woman added persuasively, noting how tall her customer was. “You can adjust them. You shouldn’t have any trouble at all.” 

Robert was momentarily shaken from his pleasant thoughts of Aaron and Liv snoozing peacefully in their living room, in the reclining chairs _he’d_ found for them. 

“Oh, they’re not for me,’ he told the young woman, taking care not to look too excited by the chair, in case Sophie got any ideas about ramping up the price. “They’re not exactly my style.” 

That wasn’t strictly true. Robert wouldn’t have minded one himself, and actually would probably end up using Liv’s a fair bit when she was at school, but on principle he had to say so. After all, most of the articles he’d read about furnishings and decor had declared them tasteless. 

“Are you buying them as a gift?” Sophie asked with polite interest. 

Robert nodded, hardly feeling any anxiety at all about answering her question. 

“They’re for my husband and his little sister,” he told her proudly (and with just a touch of a warning). “We just got a new place.” 

Robert watched her expression, waiting to see if it would change, if she’d think differently of him for saying that. But all she did was maintain the same forced look of polite interest which she clearly had to show for every customer. She obviously couldn’t care less. 

“Oh, congratulations,” Sophie said. “These would be perfect for a new home. And you sound like a good husband! Spoiling them like that.”

Robert nodded, accepting the empty goodwill with more relief than he could explain. There was a time he would have frowned at that comment, at the woman’s obvious attempts to sweet-talk him into buying her product, to use flattery and play on his feelings of generosity. He knew how the business worked after all. He’d flattered and manipulated enough people into making business deals to spot when he was getting the same treatment. But there was something marvellous about how forced the woman sounded, how false the smile on her face. It wasn’t the smile of a woman who saw him as different or wanted to judge him. It was the smile of an employee trying to keep a customer happy so she could close a deal. 

Never had Robert been more relieved to be regarded as ‘ordinary’. 

(And if the comment about being a good husband had made his stomach twist with guilt, Robert was determined to ignore it.)

“Do you deliver?” he asked swiftly. 

“There’s an extra charge for that, but we can arrange for them to be dropped off at a location of your choice.” 

Robert nodded. He didn’t care how much extra it would cost him. Two of those reclining chairs (in Aaron’s favoured black, of course) would be making their way to Emmerdale no matter what. 

“Can you do it for today?” 

“Absolutely, we’ll just need your details.” 

 _Perfect,_ Robert thought, already privately daydreaming about the look on Aaron’s face when he saw his surprise. He even allowed himself a selfish moment of pride as he anticipated giving Aaron the good news that their money troubles were over, now and forever. That Aaron would never have to worry about being poor again. _He’s gonna be so chuffed._

**Author's Note:**

> I basically wanted to show Robert doing two things Aaron hates: (throwing money at everything, and doing things in secret), but with all the right intentions. 
> 
> The communication is so bad with the boys right now. It's actually destroying me. Why would you buy him a chair, Robert? Why????????
> 
> Anyway, I hope you like this. Please leave me a comment if you do! They mean the world!
> 
> My twitter is @ClaudiaBoleyn and my Tumblr is claudiaboleyn@tumblr.com
> 
> xxx


End file.
